Method and apparatus for encoding video by motion prediction using arbitrary partition, and method and apparatus for decoding video by motion prediction using arbitrary partition

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for decoding a video includes a receiver which receives and obtains a bitstream of an encoded image, a processor which determines coding units having a hierarchical structure being data units in which the encoded image is decoded, and sub-units for predicting the coding units, by using information that indicates division shapes of the coding units and information about prediction units of the coding units, obtained from the received bitstream, wherein the sub-units comprise partitions obtained by splitting at least one of a height and a width of the coding units according to at least one of a symmetric ratio and an asymmetric ratio, and a decoder which reconstructs the image by performing decoding including motion compensation using the partitions for the coding units, using the encoding information parsed from received bitstream, wherein the coding units having the hierarchical structure comprise coding units of coded depths split hierarchically according to the coded depths and independently from neighboring coding units.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.13/897,560 filed May 20, 2013, in the United States Patent and TrademarkOffice, which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/487,325filed on Jun. 4, 2012, in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which isnow U.S. Pat. No. 8,446,959 issued on Jun. 4, 2012, which is acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 13/348,224, filed on Jan. 11,2012, in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which is now U.S. Pat.No. 8,223,843 issued on Jul. 17, 2012, which is a continuation of U.S.application Ser. No. 12/962,879, filed on Dec. 8, 2010, in the U.S.Patent and Trademark Office, which claims priority from Korean PatentApplication No. 10-2009-0121400, filed on Dec. 8, 2009, in the KoreanIntellectual Property Office, the disclosures of which are incorporatedherein by reference in their entireties.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

The exemplary embodiments relate to encoding and decoding a video.

2. Description of the Related Art

As hardware for reproducing and storing high resolution or high qualityvideo content is being developed and supplied, there is increasing needfor a video codec for effectively encoding or decoding the highresolution or high quality video content. In a conventional video codec,a video is encoded according to a limited encoding method based on amacroblock having a predetermined size.

Existing inter prediction performed by the video codec estimates amotion vector and estimates a motion of a 2N×2N sized macroblock byusing partitions having sizes of 2N×2N, 2N×N, N×2N, and N×N of themacroblock.

SUMMARY

The exemplary embodiments provide encoding and decoding of video byperforming inter prediction using arbitrary shapes of partitions.

According to an aspect of the exemplary embodiment, there is provided amethod of encoding a video, the method including: splitting video datainto a maximum coding unit; encoding the video data of the maximumcoding unit based on deeper coding units of hierarchical structures inwhich a coding unit of an upper depth is split as a depth deepens,according to at least one split region of the maximum coding unit, anddetermining a coding depth at which an encoding result is to be output,including inter prediction using partitions obtained by splitting thecoding unit according to arbitrary ratios; and outputting a bitstreamincluding the encoded video data corresponding to a coding depth for theat least one split region according to maximum coding units andinformation regarding the coding depth and encoding modes.

The depth denotes the number of times a coding unit is hierarchicallysplit, and as the depth deepens, deeper coding units according to depthsmay be split from the maximum coding unit to obtain minimum codingunits. The depth is deepened from an upper depth to a lower depth. Asthe depth deepens, the number of times the maximum coding unit is splitincreases, and a total number of possible times the maximum coding unitis split corresponds to a maximum depth. The maximum size and themaximum depth of the coding unit may be predetermined.

The determining of the coding depth may include: selectively determiningwhether to perform the inter prediction using the partitions obtained bysplitting the coding unit according to arbitrary ratios.

The outputting of the bitstream may include: including informationindicating whether a partition type for the inter prediction includesthe partitions obtained by splitting the coding unit according toarbitrary ratios.

The partitions obtained by splitting the coding unit according toarbitrary ratios may be partitions obtained by splitting a height and awidth of the coding unit according to a ratio of 1:3 or 3:1.

The maximum coding unit may be selectively set as at least one of blockshaving sizes of 16×16, 32×32, 64×64, 128×128, and 256×256.

The coding depth may be determined as a depth of a deeper coding unithaving a highest coding efficiency among coding results based on deepercoding units according to the hierarchical structures of a correspondingsplit region, and is independently determined for at least one splitregion within the maximum coding unit.

According to another aspect of an exemplary embodiment, there isprovided a method of decoding a video, the method including: receivingand parsing a bitstream regarding encoded video data; extracting theencoded video data according to maximum coding units, and informationregarding coding depths and encoding modes according to maximum codingunits from the bitstream; and performing decoding including motioncompensation using partitions obtained by splitting a coding unitaccording to arbitrary ratios, for a coding unit of at least one codingdepth according to maximum coding units, based on the informationregarding the coding depths and encoding modes according to the maximumcoding units, wherein the coding units of at least one coding depth aredetermined as one of depths of the deeper coding units of hierarchicalstructures for at least one split region of the maximum coding unit.

The extracting of the encoded video data may include: further extractinginformation indicating a partition type for inter prediction includesthe partitions obtained by splitting the coding unit according toarbitrary ratios from the bitstream.

The performing of the decoding may include: selectively determiningwhether to perform motion compensation using the partitions obtained bysplitting the coding unit according to arbitrary ratios based on theinformation indicating a partition type for inter prediction includesthe partitions obtained by splitting the coding unit according toarbitrary ratios extracted from the bitstream.

According to another aspect of an exemplary embodiment, there isprovided an apparatus for encoding a video, the apparatus including: amaximum coding unit splitter for splitting video data into a maximumcoding unit; an encoder for encoding the video data of the maximumcoding unit based on deeper coding units of hierarchical structures inwhich a coding unit of an upper depth is split as a depth deepens,according to at least one split region of the maximum coding unit, anddetermining a coding depth in which an encoding result is to be output,including inter prediction using partitions obtained by splitting thecoding unit according to arbitrary ratios; and an output unit foroutputting a bitstream including the encoded video data corresponding toa coding depth for the at least one split region according to maximumcoding units and information regarding the coding depth and encodingmodes.

According to another aspect of an exemplary embodiment, there isprovided an apparatus for decoding a video, the apparatus including: aparser for receiving and parsing a bitstream regarding encoded videodata; an extractor for extracting the encoded video data according tomaximum coding units, and information regarding coding depths andencoding modes according to maximum coding units from the bitstream; anda decoder for performing decoding including motion compensation by usingpartitions obtained by splitting a coding unit according to arbitraryratios, for a coding unit of at least one coding depth according tomaximum coding units, based on the information regarding the codingdepths and encoding modes according to the maximum coding units, whereinthe coding units of at least one coding depth are determined as one ofdepths of the deeper coding units of hierarchical structures for atleast one split region of the maximum coding unit.

According to another aspect of an exemplary embodiment, there isprovided a computer readable recording medium having recorded thereon aprogram for executing the method of encoding a video. According toanother aspect of an exemplary embodiment, there is provided a computerreadable recording medium having recorded thereon a program forexecuting the method of decoding a video.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other features of the exemplary embodiment will becomemore apparent by describing in detail exemplary embodiments thereof withreference to the attached drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an apparatus for encoding a video,according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an apparatus for decoding a video,according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a diagram for describing a concept of coding units accordingto an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an image encoder based on coding unitsaccording to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an image decoder based on coding unitsaccording to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating deeper coding units according todepths, and partitions according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a diagram for describing a relationship between a coding unitand transformation units, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a diagram for describing encoding information of coding unitscorresponding to a coded depth, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a diagram of deeper coding units according to depths,according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIGS. 10 through 12 are diagrams for describing a relationship betweencoding units, prediction units, and transformation units, according toan exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 13 is a diagram for describing a relationship between a codingunit, a prediction unit or a partition, and a transformation unit,according to encoding mode information of Table 1;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a method of encoding a video,according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a method of decoding a video,according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 16 is a block diagram of a video encoding apparatus with respect tointer prediction using partitions split according to arbitrary ratios,according to another exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of a video decoding apparatus with respect tointer prediction using partitions split according to arbitrary ratios,according to another exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 18 is a diagram of exemplary partitions obtained by splitting acoding unit according to arbitrary ratios, according to an exemplaryembodiment;

FIG. 19 illustrates a syntax of a sequence parameter set includinginformation regarding whether a partition type for inter predictionincludes partitions obtained by splitting a coding unit according toarbitrary ratios, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating a video encoding method with respectto inter prediction using partitions split according to arbitraryratios, according to another exemplary embodiment; and

FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating a video decoding method with respectto inter prediction using partitions split according to arbitraryratios, according to another exemplary embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, the exemplary embodiments will be described more fully withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which exemplary embodimentsare shown. In the exemplary embodiments, “unit” may or may not refer toa unit of size, depending on its context.

Hereinafter, a ‘coding unit’ is an encoding data unit in which the imagedata is encoded at an encoder side and an encoded data unit in which theencoded image data is decoded at a decoder side, according to exemplaryembodiments. Also, a ‘coded depth’ means a depth where a coding unit isencoded.

Hereinafter, an ‘image’ may denote a still image for a video or a movingimage, that is, the video itself.

Encoding and decoding of video based on a spatially hierarchical dataunit according to an exemplary embodiment will be described withreference to FIGS. 1 through 15, and encoding and decoding of video byinter prediction using partitions divided by an arbitrary ratioaccording to an exemplary embodiment will be described with reference toFIGS. 16 through 21.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a video encoding apparatus 100, accordingto an exemplary embodiment.

The video encoding apparatus 100 includes a maximum coding unit splitter110, a coding unit determiner 120, and an output unit 130.

The maximum coding unit splitter 110 may split a current picture basedon a maximum coding unit for the current picture of an image. If thecurrent picture is larger than the maximum coding unit, image data ofthe current picture may be split into the at least one maximum codingunit. The maximum coding unit according to an exemplary embodiment maybe a data unit having a size of 32×32, 64×64, 128×128, 256×256, etc.,wherein a shape of the data unit is a square having a width and heightin squares of 2. The image data may be output to the coding unitdeterminer 120 according to the at least one maximum coding unit.

A coding unit according to an exemplary embodiment may be characterizedby a maximum size and a depth. The depth denotes a number of times thecoding unit is spatially split from the maximum coding unit, and as thedepth deepens or increases, deeper encoding units according to depthsmay be split from the maximum coding unit to a minimum coding unit. Adepth of the maximum coding unit is at an uppermost depth and a depth ofthe minimum coding unit is at a lowermost depth. Since a size of acoding unit corresponding to each depth decreases as the depth of themaximum coding unit deepens, a coding unit corresponding to an upperdepth may include a plurality of coding units corresponding to lowerdepths.

As described above, the image data of the current picture is split intothe maximum coding units according to a maximum size of the coding unit,and each of the maximum coding units may include deeper coding unitsthat are split according to depths. Since the maximum coding unitaccording to an exemplary embodiment is split according to depths, theimage data of a spatial domain included in the maximum coding unit maybe hierarchically classified according to depths.

A maximum depth and a maximum size of a coding unit, which limit thetotal number of times a height and a width of the maximum coding unitare hierarchically split may be predetermined.

The coding unit determiner 120 encodes at least one split regionobtained by splitting a region of the maximum coding unit according todepths, and determines a depth to output a finally encoded image dataaccording to the at least one split region. In other words, the codingunit determiner 120 determines a coded depth by encoding the image datain the deeper coding units according to depths, according to the maximumcoding unit of the current picture, and selecting a depth having theleast encoding error. Thus, the encoded image data of the coding unitcorresponding to the determined coded depth is finally output. Also, thecoding units corresponding to the coded depth may be regarded as encodedcoding units.

The determined coded depth and the encoded image data according to thedetermined coded depth are output to the output unit 130.

The image data in the maximum coding unit is encoded based on the deepercoding units corresponding to at least one depth equal to or below themaximum depth, and results of encoding the image data are compared basedon each of the deeper coding units. A depth having the least encodingerror may be selected after comparing encoding errors of the deepercoding units. At least one coded depth may be selected for each maximumcoding unit.

The size of the maximum coding unit is split as a coding unit ishierarchically split according to depths, and as the number of codingunits increases. Also, even if coding units correspond to same depth inone maximum coding unit, it is determined whether to split each of thecoding units corresponding to the same depth to a lower depth bymeasuring an encoding error of the image data of the each coding unit,separately. Accordingly, even when image data is included in one maximumcoding unit, the image data is split to regions according to the depthsand the encoding errors may differ according to regions in the onemaximum coding unit, and thus the coded depths may differ according toregions in the image data. Thus, one or more coded depths may bedetermined in one maximum coding unit, and the image data of the maximumcoding unit may be divided according to coding units of at least onecoded depth.

Accordingly, the coding unit determiner 120 may determine coding unitshaving a tree structure included in the maximum coding unit. The ‘codingunits having a tree structure’ according to an exemplary embodimentinclude coding units corresponding to a depth determined to be the codeddepth, from among all deeper coding units included in the maximum codingunit. A coding unit of a coded depth may be hierarchically determinedaccording to depths in the same region of the maximum coding unit, andmay be independently determined in different regions. Similarly, a codeddepth in a current region may be independently determined from a codeddepth in another region.

A maximum depth according to an exemplary embodiment is an index relatedto the number of splitting times from a maximum coding unit to a minimumcoding unit, i.e., to the number of times the maximum coding unit issplit into a minimum coding unit. A first maximum depth according to anexemplary embodiment may denote the total number of splitting times fromthe maximum coding unit to the minimum coding unit. A second maximumdepth according to an exemplary embodiment may denote the total numberof depth levels from the maximum coding unit to the minimum coding unit.For example, when a depth of the maximum coding unit is 0, a depth of acoding unit, in which the maximum coding unit is split once, may be setto 1, and a depth of a coding unit, in which the maximum coding unit issplit twice, may be set to 2. Here, if the minimum coding unit is acoding unit in which the maximum coding unit is split four times, 5depth levels of depths 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 exist, and thus the firstmaximum depth may be set to 4, and the second maximum depth may be setto 5.

Prediction encoding and transformation may be performed according to themaximum coding unit. The prediction encoding and the transformation arealso performed based on the deeper coding units according to a depthequal to or depths less than the maximum depth, according to the maximumcoding unit. Transformation may be performed according to method oforthogonal transformation or integer transformation.

Since the number of deeper coding units increases whenever the maximumcoding unit is split according to depths, encoding including theprediction encoding and the transformation is performed on all of thedeeper coding units generated as the depth deepens. For convenience ofdescription, the prediction encoding and the transformation will now bedescribed based on a coding unit of a current depth, in a maximum codingunit.

The video encoding apparatus 100 may variably select a size or shape ofa data unit for encoding the image data. In order to encode the imagedata, operations, such as prediction encoding, transformation, andentropy encoding, are performed, and at this time, the same data unitmay be used for all operations or different data units may be used foreach operation.

For example, the video encoding apparatus 100 may select not only acoding unit for encoding the image data, but also a data unit differentfrom the coding unit so as to perform the prediction encoding on theimage data in the coding unit.

In order to perform prediction encoding in the maximum coding unit, theprediction encoding may be performed based on a coding unitcorresponding to a coded depth, i.e., based on a coding unit that is nolonger split to coding units corresponding to a lower depth.Hereinafter, the coding unit that is no longer split and becomes a basisunit for prediction encoding will now be referred to as a ‘predictionunit’. A partition obtained by splitting the prediction unit may includea prediction unit or a data unit obtained by splitting at least one of aheight and a width of the prediction unit.

For example, when a coding unit of 2N×2N (where N is a positive integer)is no longer split and becomes a prediction unit of 2N×2N, and a size ofa partition may be 2N×2N, 2N×N, N×2N, or N×N. Examples of a partitiontype include symmetrical partitions that are obtained by symmetricallysplitting a height or width of the prediction unit, partitions obtainedby asymmetrically splitting the height or width of the prediction unit,such as 1:n or n:1, partitions that are obtained by geometricallysplitting the prediction unit, and partitions having arbitrary shapes.

A prediction mode of the prediction unit may be at least one of an intramode, a inter mode, and a skip mode. For example, the intra mode or theinter mode may be performed on the partition of 2N×2N, 2N×N, N×2N, orN×N. Also, the skip mode may be performed only on the partition of2N×2N. The encoding is independently performed on one prediction unit ina coding unit, thereby selecting a prediction mode having a leastencoding error.

The video encoding apparatus 100 may also perform the transformation onthe image data in a coding unit based not only on the coding unit forencoding the image data, but also based on a data unit that is differentfrom the coding unit.

In order to perform the transformation in the coding unit, thetransformation may be performed based on a data unit having a sizesmaller than or equal to the coding unit. For example, the data unit forthe transformation may include a data unit for an intra mode and a dataunit for an inter mode.

A data unit used as a base of the transformation will now be referred toas a ‘transformation unit’. A transformation depth indicating the numberof splitting times to reach the transformation unit by splitting theheight and width of the coding unit may also be set in thetransformation unit. For example, in a current coding unit of 2N×2N, atransformation depth may be 0 when the size of a transformation unit isalso 2N×2N, may be 1 when each of the height and width of the currentcoding unit is split into two equal parts, totally split into 4̂1transformation units, and the size of the transformation unit is thusN×N, and may be 2 when each of the height and width of the currentcoding unit is split into four equal parts, totally split into 4̂2transformation units and the size of the transformation unit is thusN/2×N/2. For example, the transformation unit may be set according to ahierarchical tree structure, in which a transformation unit of an uppertransformation depth is split into four transformation units of a lowertransformation depth according to the hierarchical characteristics of atransformation depth.

Similarly to the coding unit, the transformation unit in the coding unitmay be recursively split into smaller sized regions, so that thetransformation unit may be determined independently in units of regions.Thus, residual data in the coding unit may be divided according to thetransformation having the tree structure according to transformationdepths.

Encoding information according to coding units corresponding to a codeddepth requires not only information about the coded depth, but alsoabout information related to prediction encoding and transformation.Accordingly, the coding unit determiner 120 not only determines a codeddepth having a least encoding error, but also determines a partitiontype in a prediction unit, a prediction mode according to predictionunits, and a size of a transformation unit for transformation.

Coding units according to a tree structure in a maximum coding unit anda method of determining a partition, according to exemplary embodiments,will be described in detail later with reference to FIGS. 3 through 12.

The coding unit determiner 120 may measure an encoding error of deepercoding units according to depths by using Rate-Distortion Optimizationbased on Lagrangian multipliers.

The output unit 130 outputs the image data of the maximum coding unit,which is encoded based on the at least one coded depth determined by thecoding unit determiner 120, and information about the encoding modeaccording to the coded depth, in bitstreams.

The encoded image data may be obtained by encoding residual data of animage.

The information about the encoding mode according to coded depth mayinclude information about the coded depth, about the partition type inthe prediction unit, the prediction mode, and the size of thetransformation unit.

The information about the coded depth may be defined by using splitinformation according to depths, which indicates whether encoding isperformed on coding units of a lower depth instead of a current depth.If the current depth of the current coding unit is the coded depth,image data in the current coding unit is encoded and output, and thusthe split information may be defined not to split the current codingunit to a lower depth. Alternatively, if the current depth of thecurrent coding unit is not the coded depth, the encoding is performed onthe coding unit of the lower depth, and thus the split information maybe defined to split the current coding unit to obtain the coding unitsof the lower depth.

If the current depth is not the coded depth, encoding is performed onthe coding unit that is split into at least one coding unit of the lowerdepth. Since at least one coding unit of the lower depth exists in onecoding unit of the current depth, the encoding is repeatedly performedon each coding unit of the lower depth, and thus the encoding may berecursively performed for the coding units having the same depth.

Since the coding units having a tree structure are determined for onemaximum coding unit, and information about at least one encoding mode isdetermined for a coding unit of a coded depth, information about atleast one encoding mode may be determined for one maximum coding unit.Also, a coded depth of the image data of the maximum coding unit may bedifferent according to locations since the image data is hierarchicallysplit according to depths, and thus information about the coded depthand the encoding mode may be set for the image data.

Accordingly, the output unit 130 may assign encoding information about acorresponding coded depth and an encoding mode to at least one of thecoding unit, the prediction unit, and a minimum unit included in themaximum coding unit.

The minimum unit according to an exemplary embodiment is a rectangulardata unit obtained by splitting the minimum coding unit constituting thelowermost depth by 4. Alternatively, the minimum unit may be a maximumrectangular data unit that may be included in all of the coding units,prediction units, partition units, and transformation units included inthe maximum coding unit.

For example, the encoding information output through the output unit 130may be classified into encoding information according to coding units,and encoding information according to prediction units. The encodinginformation according to the coding units may include the informationabout the prediction mode and about the size of the partitions. Theencoding information according to the prediction units may includeinformation about an estimated direction of an inter mode, about areference image index of the inter mode, about a motion vector, about achroma component of an intra mode, and about an interpolation method ofthe intra mode. Also, information about a maximum size of the codingunit defined according to pictures, slices, or GOPs, and informationabout a maximum depth may be inserted into SPS (Sequence Parameter Set)or a header of a bitstream.

In the video encoding apparatus 100, the deeper coding unit may be acoding unit obtained by dividing a height or width of a coding unit ofan upper depth, which is one layer above, by two. In other words, whenthe size of the coding unit of the current depth is 2N×2N, the size ofthe coding unit of the lower depth is N×N. Also, the coding unit of thecurrent depth having the size of 2N×2N may include a maximum of 4 codingunits of the lower depth.

Accordingly, the video encoding apparatus 100 may form the coding unitshaving the tree structure by determining coding units having an optimumshape and an optimum size for each maximum coding unit, based on thesize of the maximum coding unit and the maximum depth determined whileconsidering characteristics of the current picture. Also, since encodingmay be performed on each maximum coding unit by using any one of variousprediction modes and transformations, an optimum encoding mode may bedetermined while considering characteristics of the coding unit ofvarious image sizes.

Thus, if an image having high resolution or large data amount is encodedin a conventional macroblock, a number of macroblocks per pictureexcessively increases. Accordingly, a number of pieces of compressedinformation generated for each macroblock increases, and thus it isdifficult to transmit the compressed information and data compressionefficiency decreases. However, by using the video encoding apparatus100, image compression efficiency may be increased since a coding unitis adjusted while considering characteristics of an image whileincreasing a maximum size of a coding unit while considering a size ofthe image.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a video decoding apparatus 200, accordingto an exemplary embodiment.

The video decoding apparatus 200 includes a receiver 210, an image dataand encoding information extractor 220, and an image data decoder 230.Definitions of various terms, such as a coding unit, a depth, aprediction unit, a transformation unit, and information about variousencoding modes, for various operations of the video decoding apparatus200 are identical to those described with reference to FIG. 1 and thevideo encoding apparatus 100.

The receiver 210 receives and parses a bitstream of an encoded video.The image data and encoding information extractor 220 extracts encodedimage data for each coding unit from the parsed bitstream, wherein thecoding units have a tree structure according to each maximum codingunit, and outputs the extracted image data to the image data decoder230. The image data and encoding information extractor 220 may extractinformation about a maximum size of a coding unit of a current picture,from a header about the current picture or SPS.

Also, the image data and encoding information extractor 220 extractsinformation about a coded depth and an encoding mode for the codingunits having a tree structure according to each maximum coding unit,from the parsed bitstream. The extracted information about the codeddepth and the encoding mode is output to the image data decoder 230. Inother words, the image data in a bit stream is split into the maximumcoding unit so that the image data decoder 230 decodes the image datafor each maximum coding unit.

The information about the coded depth and the encoding mode according tothe maximum coding unit may be set for information about at least onecoding unit corresponding to the coded depth, and information about anencoding mode may include information about a partition type of acorresponding coding unit corresponding to the coded depth, about aprediction mode, and a size of a transformation unit. Also, splittinginformation according to depths may be extracted as the informationabout the coded depth.

The information about the coded depth and the encoding mode according toeach maximum coding unit extracted by the image data and encodinginformation extractor 220 is information about a coded depth and anencoding mode determined to generate a minimum encoding error when anencoder, such as the video encoding apparatus 100, repeatedly performsencoding for each deeper coding unit according to depths according toeach maximum coding unit. Accordingly, the video decoding apparatus 200may restore an image by decoding the image data according to a codeddepth and an encoding mode that generates the minimum encoding error.

Since encoding information about the coded depth and the encoding modemay be assigned to a predetermined data unit from among a correspondingcoding unit, a prediction unit, and a minimum unit, the image data andencoding information extractor 220 may extract the information about thecoded depth and the encoding mode according to the predetermined dataunits. The predetermined data units to which the same information aboutthe coded depth and the encoding mode is assigned may be inferred to bethe data units included in the same maximum coding unit.

The image data decoder 230 restores the current picture by decoding theimage data in each maximum coding unit based on the information aboutthe coded depth and the encoding mode according to the maximum codingunits. In other words, the image data decoder 230 may decode the encodedimage data based on the extracted information about the partition type,the prediction mode, and the transformation unit for each coding unitfrom among the coding units having the tree structure included in eachmaximum coding unit. A decoding process may include a predictionincluding intra prediction and motion compensation, and an inversetransformation. Inverse transformation may be performed according tomethod of inverse orthogonal transformation or inverse integertransformation.

The image data decoder 230 may perform intra prediction or motioncompensation according to a partition and a prediction mode of eachcoding unit, based on the information about the partition type and theprediction mode of the prediction unit of the coding unit according tocoded depths.

Also, the image data decoder 230 may perform inverse transformationaccording to each transformation unit in the coding unit, based on theinformation about the size of the transformation unit of the coding unitaccording to coded depths, so as to perform the inverse transformationaccording to maximum coding units.

The image data decoder 230 may determine at least one coded depth of acurrent maximum coding unit by using split information according todepths. If the split information indicates that image data is no longersplit in the current depth, the current depth is a coded depth.Accordingly, the image data decoder 230 may decode encoded data of atleast one coding unit corresponding to the each coded depth in thecurrent maximum coding unit by using the information about the partitiontype of the prediction unit, the prediction mode, and the size of thetransformation unit for each coding unit corresponding to the codeddepth, and output the image data of the current maximum coding unit.

In other words, data units containing the encoding information includingthe same split information may be gathered by observing the encodinginformation set assigned for the predetermined data unit from among thecoding unit, the prediction unit, and the minimum unit, and the gathereddata units may be considered to be one data unit to be decoded by theimage data decoder 230 in the same encoding mode.

The video decoding apparatus 200 may obtain information about at leastone coding unit that generates the minimum encoding error when encodingis recursively performed for each maximum coding unit, and may use theinformation to decode the current picture. In other words, the codingunits having the tree structure determined to be the optimum codingunits in each maximum coding unit may be decoded. Also, the maximum sizeof coding unit is determined while considering resolution and an amountof image data.

Accordingly, even if image data has high resolution and a large amountof data, the image data may be efficiently decoded and restored by usinga size of a coding unit and an encoding mode, which are adaptivelydetermined according to characteristics of the image data, by usinginformation about an optimum encoding mode received from an encoder.

A method of determining coding units having a tree structure, aprediction unit, and a transformation unit, according to an exemplaryembodiment, will now be described with reference to FIGS. 3 through 13.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for describing a concept of coding units accordingto an exemplary embodiment.

A size of a coding unit may be expressed in width×height, and may be64×64, 32×32, 16×16, and 8×8. A coding unit of 64×64 may be split intopartitions of 64×64, 64×32, 32×64, or 32×32, and a coding unit of 32×32may be split into partitions of 32×32, 32×16, 16×32, or 16×16, a codingunit of 16×16 may be split into partitions of 16×16, 16×8, 8×16, or 8×8,and a coding unit of 8×8 may be split into partitions of 8×8, 8×4, 4×8,or 4×4.

In video data 310, a resolution is 1920×1080, a maximum size of a codingunit is 64×64, and a maximum depth is 2. In video data 320, a resolutionis 1920×1080, a maximum size of a coding unit is 64×64, and a maximumdepth is 3. In video data 330, a resolution is 352×288, a maximum sizeof a coding unit is 16×16, and a maximum depth is 1. The maximum depthshown in FIG. 3 denotes a total number of splits from a maximum codingunit to a minimum decoding unit.

If a resolution is high or a data amount is large, a maximum size of acoding unit may be large so as to not only increase encoding efficiencybut also to accurately reflect characteristics of an image. Accordingly,the maximum size of the coding unit of the video data 310 and 320 havingthe higher resolution than the video data 330 may be 64.

Since the maximum depth of the video data 310 is 2, coding units 315 ofthe video data 310 may include a maximum coding unit having a long axissize of 64, and coding units having long axis sizes of 32 and 16 sincedepths are deepened to two layers by splitting the maximum coding unittwice. Meanwhile, since the maximum depth of the video data 330 is 1,coding units 335 of the video data 330 may include a maximum coding unithaving a long axis size of 16, and coding units having a long axis sizeof 8 since depths are deepened to one layer by splitting the maximumcoding unit once.

Since the maximum depth of the video data 320 is 3, coding units 325 ofthe video data 320 may include a maximum coding unit having a long axissize of 64, and coding units having long axis sizes of 32, 16, and 8since the depths are deepened to 3 layers by splitting the maximumcoding unit three times. As a depth deepens, detailed information may beprecisely expressed.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an image encoder 400 based on coding units,according to an exemplary embodiment.

The image encoder 400 performs operations of the coding unit determiner120 of the video encoding apparatus 100 to encode image data. In otherwords, an intra predictor 410 performs intra prediction on coding unitsin an intra mode, from among a current frame 405, and a motion estimator420 and a motion compensator 425 performs inter estimation and motioncompensation on coding units in an inter mode from among the currentframe 405 by using the current frame 405, and a reference frame 495.

Data output from the intra predictor 410, the motion estimator 420, andthe motion compensator 425 is output as a quantized transformationcoefficient through a transformer 430 and a quantizer 440. The quantizedtransformation coefficient is restored as data in a spatial domainthrough an inverse quantizer 460 and an inverse transformer 470, and therestored data in the spatial domain is output as the reference frame 495after being post-processed through a deblocking unit 480 and a loopfiltering unit 490. The quantized transformation coefficient may beoutput as a bitstream 455 through an entropy encoder 450.

In order for the image encoder 400 to be applied in the video encodingapparatus 100, all elements of the image encoder 400, i.e., the intrapredictor 410, the motion estimator 420, the motion compensator 425, thetransformer 430, the quantizer 440, the entropy encoder 450, the inversequantizer 460, the inverse transformer 470, the deblocking unit 480, andthe loop filtering unit 490 perform operations based on each coding unitfrom among coding units having a tree structure while considering themaximum depth of each maximum coding unit.

Specifically, the intra predictor 410, the motion estimator 420, and themotion compensator 425 determine partitions and a prediction mode ofeach coding unit from among the coding units having a tree structurewhile considering the maximum size and the maximum depth of a currentmaximum coding unit, and the transformer 430 determines the size of thetransformation unit in each coding unit from among the coding unitshaving a tree structure.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an image decoder 500 based on coding units,according to an exemplary embodiment.

A parser 510 parses encoded image data to be decoded and informationabout encoding required for decoding from a bitstream 505. The encodedimage data is output as inverse quantized data through an entropydecoder 520 and an inverse quantizer 530, and the inverse quantized datais restored to image data in a spatial domain through an inversetransformer 540.

An intra predictor 550 performs intra prediction on coding units in anintra mode with respect to the image data in the spatial domain, and amotion compensator 560 performs motion compensation on coding units inan inter mode by using a reference frame 585.

The image data in the spatial domain, which passed through the intrapredictor 550 and the motion compensator 560, may be output as arestored frame 595 after being post-processed through a deblocking unit570 and a loop filtering unit 580. Also, the image data that ispost-processed through the deblocking unit 570 and the loop filteringunit 580 may be output as the reference frame 585.

In order to decode the image data in the image data decoder 230 of thevideo decoding apparatus 200, the image decoder 500 may performoperations that are performed after the parser 510.

In order for the image decoder 500 to be applied in the video decodingapparatus 200, all elements of the image decoder 500, i.e., the parser510, the entropy decoder 520, the inverse quantizer 530, the inversetransformer 540, the intra predictor 550, the motion compensator 560,the deblocking unit 570, and the loop filtering unit 580 performoperations based on coding units having a tree structure for eachmaximum coding unit.

Specifically, the intra predictor 550 and the motion compensator 560perform operations based on partitions and a prediction mode for each ofthe coding units having a tree structure, and the inverse transformer540 perform operations based on a size of a transformation unit for eachcoding unit.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating deeper coding units according todepths, and partitions, according to an exemplary embodiment.

The video encoding apparatus 100 and the video decoding apparatus 200use hierarchical coding units so as to consider characteristics of animage. A maximum height, a maximum width, and a maximum depth of codingunits may be adaptively determined according to the characteristics ofthe image, or may be differently set by a user. Sizes of deeper codingunits according to depths may be determined according to thepredetermined maximum size of the coding unit.

In a hierarchical structure 600 of coding units, according to anexemplary embodiment, the maximum height and the maximum width of thecoding units are each 64, and the maximum depth is 4. Since a depthdeepens along a vertical axis of the hierarchical structure 600, aheight and a width of the deeper coding unit are each split. Also, aprediction unit and partitions, which are bases for prediction encodingof each deeper coding unit, are shown along a horizontal axis of thehierarchical structure 600.

In other words, a coding unit 610 is a maximum coding unit in thehierarchical structure 600, wherein a depth is 0 and a size, i.e., aheight by width, is 64×64. The depth deepens along the vertical axis,and a coding unit 620 having a size of 32×32 and a depth of 1, a codingunit 630 having a size of 16×16 and a depth of 2, a coding unit 640having a size of 8×8 and a depth of 3, and a coding unit 650 having asize of 4×4 and a depth of 4 exist. The coding unit 650 having the sizeof 4×4 and the depth of 4 is a minimum coding unit.

The prediction unit and the partitions of a coding unit are arrangedalong the horizontal axis according to each depth. In other words, ifthe coding unit 610 having the size of 64×64 and the depth of 0 is aprediction unit, the prediction unit may be split into partitionsinclude in the encoding unit 610, i.e. a partition 610 having a size of64×64, partitions 612 having the size of 64×32, partitions 614 havingthe size of 32×64, or partitions 616 having the size of 32×32.

Similarly, a prediction unit of the coding unit 620 having the size of32×32 and the depth of 1 may be split into partitions included in thecoding unit 620, i.e. a partition 620 having a size of 32×32, partitions622 having a size of 32×16, partitions 624 having a size of 16×32, andpartitions 626 having a size of 16×16.

Similarly, a prediction unit of the coding unit 630 having the size of16×16 and the depth of 2 may be split into partitions included in thecoding unit 630, i.e., a partition having a size of 16×16 included inthe coding unit 630, partitions 632 having a size of 16×8, partitions634 having a size of 8×16, and partitions 636 having a size of 8×8.

Similarly, a prediction unit of the coding unit 640 having the size of8×8 and the depth of 3 may be split into partitions included in thecoding unit 640, i.e. a partition having a size of 8×8 included in thecoding unit 640, partitions 642 having a size of 8×4, partitions 644having a size of 4×8, and partitions 646 having a size of 4×4.

The coding unit 650 having the size of 4×4 and the depth of 4 is theminimum coding unit and a coding unit of the lowermost depth. Aprediction unit of the coding unit 650 is only assigned to a partitionhaving a size of 4×4.

In order to determine the at least one coded depth of the coding unitsconstituting the maximum coding unit 610, the coding unit determiner 120of the video encoding apparatus 100 performs encoding for coding unitscorresponding to each depth included in the maximum coding unit 610.

A number of deeper coding units according to depths including data inthe same range and the same size increases as the depth deepens. Forexample, four coding units corresponding to a depth of 2 are required tocover data that is included in one coding unit corresponding to a depthof 1. Accordingly, in order to compare encoding results of the same dataaccording to depths, the coding unit corresponding to the depth of 1 andfour coding units corresponding to the depth of 2 are each encoded.

In order to perform encoding for a current depth from among the depths,a least encoding error may be selected for the current depth byperforming encoding for each prediction unit in the coding unitscorresponding to the current depth, along the horizontal axis of thehierarchical structure 600. Alternatively, the minimum encoding errormay be searched for by comparing the least encoding errors according todepths, by performing encoding for each depth as the depth deepens alongthe vertical axis of the hierarchical structure 600. A depth and apartition having the minimum encoding error in the coding unit 610 maybe selected as the coded depth and a partition type of the coding unit610.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for describing a relationship between a coding unit710 and transformation units 720, according to an exemplary embodiment.

The video encoding apparatus 100 or 200 encodes or decodes an imageaccording to coding units having sizes smaller than or equal to amaximum coding unit for each maximum coding unit. Sizes oftransformation units for transformation during encoding may be selectedbased on data units that are not larger than a corresponding codingunit.

For example, in the video encoding apparatus 100 or 200, if a size ofthe coding unit 710 is 64×64, transformation may be performed by usingthe transformation units 720 having a size of 32×32.

Also, data of the coding unit 710 having the size of 64×64 may beencoded by performing the transformation on each of the transformationunits having the size of 32×32, 16×16, 8×8, and 4×4, which are smallerthan 64×64, and then a transformation unit having the least coding errormay be selected.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for describing encoding information of coding unitscorresponding to a coded depth, according to an exemplary embodiment.

The output unit 130 of the video encoding apparatus 100 may encode andtransmit information 800 about a partition type, information 810 about aprediction mode, and information 820 about a size of a transformationunit for each coding unit corresponding to a coded depth, as informationabout an encoding mode.

The information 800 indicates information about a shape of a partitionobtained by splitting a prediction unit of a current coding unit,wherein the partition is a data unit for prediction encoding the currentcoding unit. For example, a current coding unit CU_(—)0 having a size of2N×2N may be split into any one of a partition 802 having a size of2N×2N, a partition 804 having a size of 2N×N, a partition 806 having asize of N×2N, and a partition 808 having a size of N×N. Here, theinformation 800 about a partition type is set to indicate one of thepartition 804 having a size of 2N×N, the partition 806 having a size ofN×2N, and the partition 808 having a size of N×N

The information 810 indicates a prediction mode of each partition. Forexample, the information 810 may indicate a mode of prediction encodingperformed on a partition indicated by the information 800, i.e., anintra mode 812, an inter mode 814, or a skip mode 816.

The information 820 indicates a transformation unit to be based on whentransformation is performed on a current coding unit. For example, thetransformation unit may be a first intra transformation unit 822, asecond intra transformation unit 824, a first inter transformation unit826, or a second intra transformation unit 828.

The image data and encoding information extractor 220 of the videodecoding apparatus 200 may extract and use the information 800, 810, and820 for decoding, according to each deeper coding unit FIG. 9 is adiagram of deeper coding units according to depths, according to anexemplary embodiment.

Split information may be used to indicate a change of a depth. The spiltinformation indicates whether a coding unit of a current depth is splitinto coding units of a lower depth.

A prediction unit 910 for prediction encoding a coding unit 900 having adepth of 0 and a size of 2N_(—)0×2N_(—)0 may include partitions of apartition type 912 having a size of 2N_(—)0×2N_(—)0, a partition type914 having a size of 2N_(—)0×N_(—)0, a partition type 916 having a sizeof N_(—)0×2N_(—)0, and a partition type 918 having a size ofN_(—)0×N_(—)0. FIG. 9 only illustrates the partition types 912 through918 which are obtained by symmetrically splitting the prediction unit910, but a partition type is not limited thereto, and the partitions ofthe prediction unit 910 may include asymmetrical partitions, partitionshaving a predetermined shape, and partitions having a geometrical shape.

Prediction encoding is repeatedly performed on one partition having asize of 2N_(—)0×2N_(—)0, two partitions having a size of 2N_(—)0×N_(—)0,two partitions having a size of N_(—)0×2N_(—)0, and four partitionshaving a size of N_(—)0×N_(—)0, according to each partition type. Theprediction encoding in an intra mode and an inter mode may be performedon the partitions having the sizes of 2N_(—)0×2N_(—)0, N_(—)0×2N_(—)0,2N_(—)0×N_(—)0, and N_(—)0×N_(—)0. The prediction encoding in a skipmode is performed only on the partition having the size of2N_(—)0×2N_(—)0.

Errors of encoding including the prediction encoding in the partitiontypes 912 through 918 are compared, and the least encoding error isdetermined among the partition types. If an encoding error is smallestin one of the partition types 912 through 916, the prediction unit 910may not be split into a lower depth.

If the encoding error is the smallest in the partition type 918, a depthis changed from 0 to 1 to split the partition type 918 in operation 920,and encoding is repeatedly performed on coding units 930 having a depthof 2 and a size of N_(—)0×N_(—)0 to search for a minimum encoding error.

A prediction unit 940 for prediction encoding the coding unit 930 havinga depth of 1 and a size of 2N_(—)1×2N_(—)1 (=N_(—)0×N_(—)0) may includepartitions of a partition type 942 having a size of 2N_(—)1×2N_(—)1, apartition type 944 having a size of 2N_l×N_(—)1, a partition type 946having a size of N_(—)1×2N_(—)1, and a partition type 948 having a sizeof N_l×N_(—)1.

If an encoding error is the smallest in the partition type 948, a depthis changed from 1 to 2 to split the partition type 948 in operation 950,and encoding is repeatedly performed on coding units 960, which have adepth of 2 and a size of N_(—)2×N_(—)2 to search for a minimum encodingerror.

When a maximum depth is d, split operation according to each depth maybe performed up to when a depth becomes d−1, and split information maybe encoded as up to when a depth is one of 0 to d−2. In other words,when encoding is performed up to when the depth is d−1 after a codingunit corresponding to a depth of d−2 is split in operation 970, aprediction unit 990 for prediction encoding a coding unit 980 having adepth of d−1 and a size of 2N_(d−1)×2N_(d−1) may include partitions of apartition type 992 having a size of 2N_(d−1)×2N_(d−1), a partition type994 having a size of 2N_(d−1)×N_(d−1), a partition type 996 having asize of N_(d−1)×2N_(d−1), and a partition type 998 having a size ofN_(d−1)×N_(d−1).

Prediction encoding may be repeatedly performed on one partition havinga size of 2N_(d−1)×2N_(d−1), two partitions having a size of2N_(d−1)×N_(d−1), two partitions having a size of N_(d−1)×2N_(d−1), fourpartitions having a size of N_(d−1)×N_(d−1) from among the partitiontypes 992 through 998 to search for a partition type having a minimumencoding error.

Even when the partition type 998 has the minimum encoding error, since amaximum depth is d, a coding unit CU_(d−1) having a depth of d−1 is nolonger split to a lower depth, and a coded depth for the coding unitsconstituting a current maximum coding unit 900 is determined to be d−1and a partition type of the current maximum coding unit 900 may bedetermined to be N_(d−1)×N_(d−1). Also, since the maximum depth is d anda minimum coding unit 980 having a lowermost depth of d−1 is no longersplit to a lower depth, split information for the minimum coding unit980 is not set.

A data unit 999 may be a ‘minimum unit’ for the current maximum codingunit. A minimum unit according to an exemplary embodiment may be arectangular data unit obtained by splitting a minimum coding unit 980 by4. By performing the encoding repeatedly, the video encoding apparatus100 may select a depth having the least encoding error by comparingencoding errors according to depths of the coding unit 900 to determinea coded depth, and set a corresponding partition type and a predictionmode as an encoding mode of the coded depth.

As such, the minimum encoding errors according to depths are compared inall of the depths of 1 through d, and a depth having the least encodingerror may be determined as a coded depth. The coded depth, the partitiontype of the prediction unit, and the prediction mode may be encoded andtransmitted as information about an encoding mode. Also, since a codingunit is split from a depth of 0 to a coded depth, only split informationof the coded depth is set to 0, and split information of depthsexcluding the coded depth is set to 1.

The image data and encoding information extractor 220 of the videodecoding apparatus 200 may extract and use the information about thecoded depth and the prediction unit of the coding unit 900 to decode thepartition 912. The video decoding apparatus 200 may determine a depth,in which split information is 0, as a coded depth by using splitinformation according to depths, and use information about an encodingmode of the corresponding depth for decoding.

FIGS. 10 through 12 are diagrams for describing a relationship betweencoding units 1010, prediction units 1060, and transformation units 1070,according to an exemplary embodiment.

The coding units 1010 are coding units having a tree structure,corresponding to coded depths determined by the video encoding apparatus100, in a maximum coding unit. The prediction units 1060 are partitionsof prediction units of each of the coding units 1010, and thetransformation units 1070 are transformation units of each of the codingunits 1010.

When a depth of a maximum coding unit is 0 in the coding units 1010,depths of coding units 1012 and 1054 are 1, depths of coding units 1014,1016, 1018, 1028, 1050, and 1052 are 2, depths of coding units 1020,1022, 1024, 1026, 1030, 1032, and 1048 are 3, and depths of coding units1040, 1042, 1044, and 1046 are 4.

In the prediction units 1060, some encoding units 1014, 1016, 1022,1032, 1048, 1050, 1052, and 1054 are obtained by splitting the codingunits in the encoding units 1010. In other words, partition types in thecoding units 1014, 1022, 1050, and 1054 have a size of 2N×N, partitiontypes in the coding units 1016, 1048, and 1052 have a size of N×2N, anda partition type of the coding unit 1032 has a size of N×N. Predictionunits and partitions of the coding units 1010 are smaller than or equalto each coding unit.

Transformation or inverse transformation is performed on image data ofthe coding unit 1052 in the transformation units 1070 in a data unitthat is smaller than the coding unit 1052. Also, the coding units 1014,1016, 1022, 1032, 1048, 1050, and 1052 in the transformation units 1070are different from those in the prediction units 1060 in terms of sizesand shapes. In other words, the video encoding and decoding apparatuses100 and 200 may perform intra prediction, motion estimation, motioncompensation, transformation, and inverse transformation individually ona data unit in the same coding unit.

Accordingly, encoding is recursively performed on each of coding unitshaving a hierarchical structure in each region of a maximum coding unitto determine an optimum coding unit, and thus coding units having arecursive tree structure may be obtained. Encoding information mayinclude split information about a coding unit, information about apartition type, information about a prediction mode, and informationabout a size of a transformation unit. Table 1 shows the encodinginformation that may be set by the video encoding and decodingapparatuses 100 and 200.

Split Information 0 (Encoding on Coding Unit having Size of 2N × 2N andCurrent Depth of d) Size of Transformation Unit Split Split PartitionType Information 0 Information 1 Symmetrical of of Prediction PartitionAsymmetrical Transformation Transformation Split Mode Type PartitionType Unit Unit Information 1 Intra 2N × 2N 2N × nU 2N × 2N N × NRepeatedly Inter 2N × N 2N × nD (Symmetrical Encode Skip (Only  N × 2NnL × 2N Type) Coding Units 2N × 2N)  N × N nR × 2N N/2 × N/2 havingLower (Asymmetrical Depth of Type) d + 1

The output unit 130 of the video encoding apparatus 100 may output theencoding information about the coding units having a tree structure, andthe image data and encoding information extractor 220 of the videodecoding apparatus 200 may extract the encoding information about thecoding units having a tree structure from a received bitstream.

Split information indicates whether a current coding unit is split intocoding units of a lower depth. If split information of a current depth dis 0, a depth, in which a current coding unit is no longer split into alower depth, is a coded depth, and thus information about a partitiontype, prediction mode, and a size of a transformation unit may bedefined for the coded depth. If the current coding unit is further splitaccording to the split information, encoding is independently performedon four split coding units of a lower depth.

A prediction mode may be one of an intra mode, an inter mode, and a skipmode. The intra mode and the inter mode may be defined in all partitiontypes, and the skip mode is defined only in a partition type having asize of 2N×2N.

The information about the partition type may indicate symmetricalpartition types having sizes of 2N×2N, 2N×N, N×2N, and N×N, which areobtained by symmetrically splitting a height or a width of a predictionunit, and asymmetrical partition types having sizes of 2N×nU, 2N×nD,nL×2N, and nR×2N, which are obtained by asymmetrically splitting theheight or width of the prediction unit. The asymmetrical partition typeshaving the sizes of 2N×nU and 2N×nD may be respectively obtained bysplitting the height of the prediction unit in 1:3 and 3:1, and theasymmetrical partition types having the sizes of nL×2N and nR×2N may berespectively obtained by splitting the width of the prediction unit in1:3 and 3:1

The size of the transformation unit may be set to be two types in theintra mode and two types in the inter mode. In other words, if splitinformation of the transformation unit is 0, the size of thetransformation unit may be 2N×2N, which is the size of the currentcoding unit. If split information of the transformation unit is 1, thetransformation units may be obtained by splitting the current codingunit. Also, if a partition type of the current coding unit having thesize of 2N×2N is a symmetrical partition type, a size of atransformation unit may be N×N, and if the partition type of the currentcoding unit is an asymmetrical partition type, the size of thetransformation unit may be N/2×N/2.

The encoding information about coding units having a tree structure mayinclude at least one of a coding unit corresponding to a coded depth, aprediction unit, and a minimum unit. The coding unit corresponding tothe coded depth may include at least one of a prediction unit and aminimum unit containing the same encoding information.

Accordingly, it is determined whether adjacent data units are includedin the same coding unit corresponding to the coded depth by comparingencoding information of the adjacent data units. Also, a correspondingcoding unit corresponding to a coded depth is determined by usingencoding information of a data unit, and thus a distribution of codeddepths in a maximum coding unit may be determined.

Accordingly, if a current coding unit is predicted based on encodinginformation of adjacent data units, encoding information of data unitsin deeper coding units adjacent to the current coding unit may bedirectly referred to and used.

Alternatively, if a current coding unit is predicted based on encodinginformation of adjacent data units, data units adjacent to the currentcoding unit are searched using encoded information of the data units,and the searched adjacent coding units may be referred to for predictingthe current coding unit.

FIG. 13 is a diagram for describing a relationship between a codingunit, a prediction unit or a partition, and a transformation unit,according to encoding mode information of Table 1.

A maximum coding unit 1300 includes coding units 1302, 1304, 1306, 1312,1314, 1316, and 1318 of coded depths. Here, since the coding unit 1318is a coding unit of a coded depth, split information may be set to 0.Information about a partition type of the coding unit 1318 having a sizeof 2N×2N may be set to be one of a partition type 1322 having a size of2N×2N, a partition type 1324 having a size of 2N×N, a partition type1326 having a size of N×2N, a partition type 1328 having a size of N×N,a partition type 1332 having a size of 2N×nU, a partition type 1334having a size of 2N×nD, a partition type 1336 having a size of nL×2N,and a partition type 1338 having a size of nR×2N.

When the partition type is set to be symmetrical, i.e. the partitiontype 1322, 1324, 1326, or 1328, a transformation unit 1342 having a sizeof 2N×2N is set if split information (TU size flag) of a transformationunit is 0, and a transformation unit 1344 having a size of N×N is set ifa TU size flag is 1.

When the partition type is set to be asymmetrical, i.e., the partitiontype 1332, 1334, 1336, or 1338, a transformation unit 1352 having a sizeof 2N×2N is set if a TU size flag is 0, and a transformation unit 1354having a size of N/2×N/2 is set if a TU size flag is 1.

Referring to FIG. 13, the TU size flag is a flag having a value or 0 or1, but the TU size flag is not limited to 1 bit, and a transformationunit may be hierarchically split having a tree structure while the TUsize flag increases from 0.

In this case, the size of a transformation unit that has been actuallyused may be expressed by using a TU size flag of a transformation unit,according to an exemplary embodiment, together with a maximum size andminimum size of the transformation unit. According to an exemplaryembodiment, the video encoding apparatus 100 is capable of encodingmaximum transformation unit size information, minimum transformationunit size information, and a maximum TU size flag. The result ofencoding the maximum transformation unit size information, the minimumtransformation unit size information, and the maximum TU size flag maybe inserted into an SPS. According to an exemplary embodiment, the videodecoding apparatus 200 may decode video by using the maximumtransformation unit size information, the minimum transformation unitsize information, and the maximum TU size flag.

For example, if the size of a current coding unit is 64×64 and a maximumtransformation unit size is 32×32, then the size of a transformationunit may be 32×32 when a TU size flag is 0, may be 16×16 when the TUsize flag is 1, and may be 8×8 when the TU size flag is 2.

As another example, if the size of the current coding unit is 32×32 anda minimum transformation unit size is 32×32, then the size of thetransformation unit may be 32×32 when the TU size flag is 0. Here, theTU size flag cannot be set to a value other than 0, since the size ofthe transformation unit cannot be less than 32×32.

As another example, if the size of the current coding unit is 64×64 anda maximum TU size flag is 1, then the TU size flag may be 0 or 1. Here,the TU size flag cannot be set to a value other than 0 or 1.

Thus, if it is defined that the maximum TU size flag is‘MaxTransformSizeIndex’, a minimum transformation unit size is‘MinTransformSize’, and a transformation unit size is ‘RootTuSize’ whenthe TU size flag is 0, then a current minimum transformation unit size‘CurrMinTuSize’ that can be determined in a current coding unit, may bedefined by Equation (1):

CurrMinTuSize=max(MinTransformSize,RootTuSize/(2̂MaxTransformSizeIndex))  (1)

Compared to the current minimum transformation unit size ‘CurrMinTuSize’that can be determined in the current coding unit, a transformation unitsize ‘RootTuSize’ when the TU size flag is 0 may denote a maximumtransformation unit size that can be selected in the system. In Equation(1), ‘RootTuSize/(2̂MaxTransformSizeIndex)’ denotes a transformation unitsize when the transformation unit size ‘RootTuSize’, when the TU sizeflag is 0, is split a number of times corresponding to the maximum TUsize flag, and ‘MinTransformSize’ denotes a minimum transformation size.Thus, a smaller value from among ‘RootTuSize/(2̂MaxTransformSizeIndex)’and ‘MinTransformSize’ may be the current minimum transformation unitsize ‘CurrMinTuSize’ that can be determined in the current coding unit.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the maximum transformation unitsize RootTuSize may vary according to the type of a prediction mode.

For example, if a current prediction mode is an inter mode, then‘RootTuSize’ may be determined by using Equation (2) below. In Equation(2), ‘MaxTransformSize’ denotes a maximum transformation unit size, and‘PUSize’ denotes a current prediction unit size.

RootTuSize=min(MaxTransformSize,PUSize)  (2)

That is, if the current prediction mode is the inter mode, thetransformation unit size ‘RootTuSize’ when the TU size flag is 0, may bea smaller value from among the maximum transformation unit size and thecurrent prediction unit size.

If a prediction mode of a current partition unit is an intra mode,‘RootTuSize’ may be determined by using Equation (3) below. In Equation(3), ‘PartitionSize’ denotes the size of the current partition unit.

RootTuSize=min(MaxTransformSize,PartitionSize)  (3)

That is, if the current prediction mode is the intra mode, thetransformation unit size ‘RootTuSize’ when the TU size flag is 0 may bea smaller value from among the maximum transformation unit size and thesize of the current partition unit.

However, the current maximum transformation unit size ‘RootTuSize’ thatvaries according to the type of a prediction mode in a partition unit isjust an example and is not limited thereto.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a method of encoding a video,according to an exemplary embodiment.

In operation 1210, a current picture is split into at least one maximumcoding unit. A maximum depth indicating the total number of possiblesplitting times may be predetermined.

In operation 1220, a coded depth to output a final encoding resultaccording to at least one split region, which is obtained by splitting aregion of each maximum coding unit according to depths, is determined byencoding the at least one split region, and a coding unit according to atree structure is determined.

The maximum coding unit is spatially split whenever the depth deepens,and thus is split into coding units of a lower depth. Each coding unitmay be split into coding units of another lower depth by being spatiallysplit independently from adjacent coding units. Encoding is repeatedlyperformed on each coding unit according to depths.

Also, a transformation unit according to partition types having theleast encoding error is determined for each deeper coding unit. In orderto determine a coded depth having a minimum encoding error in eachmaximum coding unit, encoding errors may be measured and compared in alldeeper coding units according to depths.

In operation 1230, encoded image data constituting the final encodingresult according to the coded depth is output for each maximum codingunit, with encoding information about the coded depth and an encodingmode. The information about the encoding mode may include informationabout a coded depth or split information, information about a partitiontype of a prediction unit, a prediction mode, and a size of atransformation unit. The encoded information about the encoding mode maybe transmitted to a decoder with the encoded image data.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating a method of decoding a video,according to an exemplary embodiment.

In operation 1310, a bitstream of an encoded video is received andparsed.

In operation 1320, encoded image data of a current picture assigned to amaximum coding unit, and encoding information about a coded depth and anencoding mode according to maximum coding units are extracted from theparsed bitstream. The coded depth of each maximum coding unit is a depthhaving the least encoding error in each maximum coding unit. In encodingeach maximum coding unit, the image data is encoded based on at leastone data unit obtained by hierarchically splitting the each maximumcoding unit according to depths.

According to the information about the coded depth and the encodingmode, the maximum coding unit may be split into coding units having atree structure. Each of the coding units having the tree structure isdetermined as a coding unit corresponding to a coded depth, and isoptimally encoded as to output the least encoding error. Accordingly,encoding and decoding efficiency of an image may be improved by decodingeach piece of encoded image data in the coding units after determiningat least one coded depth according to coding units.

In operation 1330, the image data of each maximum coding unit is decodedbased on the encoding information about the coded depth and the encodingmode according to the maximum coding units. The decoded image data maybe reproduced by a reproducing apparatus, stored in a storage medium, ortransmitted through a network.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram of a video encoding apparatus 1400 withrespect to inter prediction using partitions split according toarbitrary ratios, according to another exemplary embodiment.

The video encoding apparatus 1400 includes a maximum coding unitsplitter 1410, an encoder 1420, and an output unit 1430.

The maximum coding unit splitter 1410 may split video data into amaximum coding unit. The maximum video data split into the maximumcoding unit is output to the output unit 1430. The maximum coding unitmay be previously set in data units, such as a frame sequence, a frame,a slice, a coding unit, etc.

The maximum video data may be selectively set as at least one of blockshaving respective sizes of 16×16, 32×32, 64×64, 128×128, and 256×256.

The encoder 1420 encodes the video data of the maximum coding unit splitby the maximum coding unit splitter 1410. The encoder 1420 encodes thevideo data for at least one split region of the maximum coding unitbased on deeper coding units of hierarchical structures. During anencoding operation of the deeper coding units, inter prediction isperformed to search for a similar region by using partitions included inthe deeper coding units and to estimate motion information of thepartitions.

The inter prediction may use partitions obtained by splitting a codingunit according to arbitrary ratios. Examples of the prediction unit andpartitions shown in FIGS. 3 through 13 include partitions having sizesof 2N×2N, 2N×N, N×2N, and N×N split from a coding unit having a size of2N×2N. The encoder 1420 may perform the inter prediction according topartition types including partitions split according to arbitrary ratiosor according to asymmetric ratios as well as partitions obtained bysplitting the width or the height of the coding unit at a ratio of 1:1.

For example, the partitions obtained by splitting the coding unitaccording to arbitrary ratios may be obtained by splitting the width orthe height of the coding unit at a ratio of 1:3 or 3:1. The partitionsmay be split at various arbitrary ratios such as 1:2, 2:1, 1:3, 3:1,2:3, 3:2, 1:4, 4:1, etc.

The partition types may include partitions obtained by asymmetricallysplitting the coding unit as well as partitions obtained by splittingthe coding units according to arbitrary ratios. The partition types forthe inter prediction of the coding unit may not be limited to includingpartitions split in a definite direction according to arbitrary ratiosand may include partitions having arbitrary shapes.

The encoder 1420 may selectively determine whether to perform the interprediction by using the partitions obtained by splitting the coding unitaccording to arbitrary ratios. Information indicating whether to performthe inter prediction by using the partitions obtained by splitting thecoding unit according to arbitrary ratios may be separately encoded andincluded in a bitstream.

The encoder 1420 encodes the video data of the maximum coding unitaccording to split regions based on the deeper coding units according tothe hierarchical structures, selects results of encoding according todepths, and selects a depth having a highest encoding efficiency. Theselected depth is an encoding depth for a split region of acorresponding maximum coding unit. Information regarding the encodingdepth is encoded as a result of encoding of a corresponding coding unit.The encoding depth for at least one split region within the maximumcoding unit is independently determined, and thus at least one encodingdepth may be determined for a single maximum coding unit.

The output unit 1430 outputs a bitstream including information regardingthe encoded video data corresponding to encoding depths according tomaximum coding units and split regions, the encoding depths, andencoding modes. The output unit 1430 may output the bitstream includinginformation regarding whether the partition types for the interprediction include the partitions obtained by splitting the coding unitaccording to arbitrary ratios. The information regarding whether thepartition types for the inter prediction include the partitions obtainedby splitting the coding unit according to arbitrary ratios may be setaccording to data units such as a frame sequence, a slice, a codingunit, etc. and may be included in a sequence parameter set of thebitstream, a slice header, and encoding information according toencoding units.

The coding unit may record quite a greater amount of data than that of agiven macroblock, and thus a single coding unit may include regionshaving different image characteristics. To perform prediction encodingof the coding unit, it is preferable to split the coding unit intoregions according image characteristics and generate partitions forprediction encoding the coding unit by gathering neighboring regionshaving the same image characteristics as a partition.

Although the video data may be split into regions having differentcharacteristics of the image with respect to a center of the codingunit, the greater the size of the coding unit is, the higher thepossibility that a boundary between distinguished regions is any oneside, left, right, up or down. If only the partitions obtained bysplitting the width and height of the coding unit at the ratio of 1:1are used, to precisely perform prediction encoding on the coding unit inwhich the boundary between distinguished regions is one side, a currentcoding unit must be split into a coding unit of a lower depth so as togenerate small partitions including a single independent region.

However, if the inter prediction is performed by using the partitionssplit according to arbitrary ratios, like the video encoding apparatus1400 according to the present embodiment, the inter prediction isperformed by using the partitions that are split to one side at acurrent depth without having to further split a current deeper codingunit into lower depths. Therefore, if the partitions of the coding unitinclude the partitions split according to arbitrary ratios or partitionshaving arbitrary shapes and the partitions obtained by splitting thewidth or height of the coding unit at the ratio of 1:1 as well, moreefficient and precise prediction encoding can be performed on a largesized coding unit.

Furthermore, the prediction encoding using the partitions obtained bysplitting the coding unit according to arbitrary ratios or thepartitions having arbitrary shapes may be selectively performedaccording to the hardware performance of a video encoder/decoder, theuser requirement for receiving a video encoding/decoding service, and atransmission environment of a bitstream regarding encoded video.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of a video decoding apparatus 1500 withrespect to inter prediction using partitions split according toarbitrary ratios, according to another exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 17, the video decoding apparatus 1500 includes aparser 1510, an extractor 1520, and a decoder 1530. The parser 1510receives a bitstream regarding encoded video and parses symbols of thereceived bitstream. The extractor 1520 extracts video data encodedaccording to maximum coding units and information regarding codingdepths and encoding modes according to maximum coding units from theparsed bitstream.

The extractor 1520 may further extract information regarding whether apartition type for inter prediction includes partitions obtained bysplitting a coding unit according to arbitrary ratios from thebitstream. The information regarding whether the partition type forinter prediction includes partitions obtained by splitting the codingunit according to arbitrary ratios may be extracted from a sequenceparameter set of the bitstream, a slice header, encoding information forcoding units, etc.

The decoder 1530 receives the video data and the encoding informationextracted from the extractor 1520 and decodes video data based on theencoding information. More specifically, the decoder 1530 decodes thevideo data for a coding unit of at least one coding depth according tomaximum coding units based on the information regarding the codingdepths and encoding modes according to the maximum coding units.

In particular, the decoder 1530 may selectively perform motioncompensation by using the partitions obtained by splitting the codingunit according to arbitrary ratios according to the informationregarding whether the partition type for inter prediction includespartitions obtained by splitting the coding unit according to arbitraryratios extracted by the extractor 1520.

That is, the decoder 1530 may perform motion compensation by using amotion vector predicted according to a partition type includingpartitions obtained by asymmetrically splitting the coding unitaccording to arbitrary ratios such as 1:2, 2:1, 1:3, 3:1, 2:3, 3:2, 1:4,4:1, etc. and the partitions obtained by splitting the coding unit atthe arbitrary ratio of 1:1 as well. Furthermore, the decoder 1530 mayperform motion compensation by using partitions having arbitrary shapesas well as partitions obtained by splitting the coding unit in adirection.

The decoder 1530 may selectively perform motion compensation accordingto partitions having widths and heights at arbitrary ratios bydetermining whether inter prediction is encoded by using the partitionsobtained by splitting the coding unit according to arbitrary ratios,thereby precisely restoring the coding unit distinguished with respectto regions having various characteristics of an image.

The video decoding apparatus 1500 may restore and reproduce the videodata decoded according to maximum coding units.

Therefore, if prediction encoding/decoding using the partitions splitaccording to arbitrary ratios is performed like the video encodingapparatus 1400 and the video decoding apparatus 1500, the interprediction is performed by using the partitions that are split to oneside at a current depth without having to further split a current deepercoding unit into lower depths. Therefore, the partitions split accordingto arbitrary ratios may be used to more efficiently and preciselyperform prediction encoding or decoding on a large sized coding unit.

FIG. 18 is a diagram of exemplary partitions obtained by splitting acoding unit according to arbitrary ratios, according to an exemplaryembodiment.

Referring to FIG. 18, a partition type for prediction encoding of thecoding unit may include partitions obtained by splitting the height andwidth of the coding unit according to arbitrary ratios. For example, apartition type of a coding unit 1600 having a size of 64×64 may includepartitions obtained by splitting the coding unit 1600 according to aratio of 1:3 or 3:1 and partitions having sizes of 64×32, 32×64, and32×32 obtained by splitting the height or the width of the coding unit1600 according to a ratio of 1:1 as well.

More specifically, a partition type of the coding unit 1600 having thesize of 64×64 may include partitions 1610 and 1620 having sizes of 64×16and 64×48, respectively, obtained by splitting the height of the codingunit 1600 according to the ratio of 1:3 or 3:1. Furthermore, thepartition type of the coding unit 1600 having the size of 64×64 mayinclude partitions 1630 and 1640 having sizes of 64×16 and 64×48obtained by splitting the width of the coding unit 1600 according to theratio of 1:3 or 3:1.

FIG. 19 illustrates a syntax of a sequence parameter set 1700 includinginformation regarding whether a partition type for inter predictionincludes partitions obtained by splitting a coding unit according toarbitrary ratios, according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 19, sequence_parameter_set is the syntax of thesequence parameter set 1700 for a current image slice. The informationregarding whether the partition type for inter prediction includespartitions obtained by splitting the coding unit according to arbitraryratios is inserted into the syntax of the sequence parameter set 1700for the current image slice.

picture_width is syntax of a width of an input image. picture_height issyntax of a height of the input image. max_coding_unit_size is syntax ofa size of a maximum coding unit. max_coding_unit_depth is syntax of amaximum depth.

An example of a sequence parameter may define information indicatingwhether a coding unit level is independently decoded, that is,use_independent_cu_decode_flag, information indicating whether thecoding unit level is independently parsed, that is,use_independent_cu_parse_flag, an availability of a motion vectoraccuracy control operation, that is, use_mv_accuracy_control_flag, anavailability of an arbitrary directionality intra prediction operation,that is, use_arbitrary_direction_intra_flag, an availability of aprediction encoding/decoding operation with respect to the frequencydomain according to frequency transformation, that is,use_frequency_domain_prediction_flag, an availability of a rotationaltransformation operation, that is, use_rotational_transform_flag, anavailability of encoding/decoding using a tree significance map, thatis, use_tree_significant_map_flag, an availability of an intraprediction encoding operation using a multi-parameter, that is,use_multi_parameter_intra_prediction_flag, an availability of animproved motion vector prediction encoding operation, that is,use_advanced_motion_vector_prediction_flag, an availability of anadaptive loop filtering operation, that is,use_adaptive_loop_filter_flag, an availability of an adaptive loopfiltering operation of a quadtree structure, that is,use_quadtree_adaptive_loop_filter_flag, an availability of aquantization operation using a delta value of a quantization parameter,that is, use_delta_qp_flag, an availability of a random noise generationoperation, that is, use_random_noise_generation_flag, and informationindicating whether partitions having arbitrary partitions for interprediction of a coding unit are allowed, that is,use_arbitrary_motion_partition_flag.

In particular, according to the availability of the adaptive loopfiltering operation, that is, use_adaptive_loop_filter_flag, and theavailability of the adaptive loop filtering operation of the quadtreestructure, that is, use_quadtree_adaptive_loop_filter_flag, the sequenceparameter set 1700 may define a filter length of the adaptive loopfilter, that is, alf_filter_length, a type of the adaptive loop filter,that is, alf_filter_type, a reference value for quantization of anadaptive loop filter coefficient, that is, alf_qbits, and the number ofcolor components of the adaptive loop filtering, that is, alf_num_color.

Information regarding correlations between a depth of a coding unit, acoding tool, and an operating mode that are used in the video encodingapparatus 1400 and the video decoding apparatus 1500 may include anoperating mode mbp_mode[uiDepth] of inter prediction corresponding to adepth uiDepth of a coding unit and an operating modesignificant_map_mode[uiDepth] indicating a type of a significant mapamong tree significant maps. More specifically, the sequence parameterset 1700 may set the correlations between the inter prediction and acorresponding operating mode according to the depth of the coding unitor the correlations between encoding/decoding using the tree significantmap and a corresponding operating mode.

The sequence parameter set 1700 may also set a bit depth of an inputsample input_sample_bit_depth and a bit depth of an internal sampleinternal_sample_bit_depth.

The video decoding apparatus 1500 may read a sequence parameter, extractthe information indicating whether partitions having arbitrarypartitions for inter prediction of the coding unit are allowed, that is,use_arbitrary_motion_partition_flag, from the read sequence parameter,and determine whether to perform inter prediction using partitionsobtained by splitting a coding unit of a corresponding sequenceaccording to arbitrary ratios.

The information indicating whether partitions having arbitrarypartitions for inter prediction of the coding unit are allowed, that is,use_arbitrary_motion_partition_flag, which is used by the video encodingapparatus 1400 and the video decoding apparatus 1500, is not limited tothe sequence parameter set 1700 of FIG. 22, and may be encoded/decodedin units of a maximum coding unit, a slice, a frame, a picture, a GOP,etc.

If the information indicating whether partitions having arbitrarypartitions for inter prediction of the coding unit are allowed, that is,use_arbitrary_motion_partition_flag, and has a true value in a sliceheader, the inter prediction is performed using partitions obtained bysplitting the coding unit according to arbitrary ratios in acorresponding slice. If the information has a false value, the interprediction is performed using partitions obtained by splitting the widthor the height of the coding unit according to a ratio of 1:1 in thecorresponding slice.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart illustrating a video encoding method with respectto inter prediction using partitions split according to arbitraryratios, according to another exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 20, in operation 1810, video data is split into amaximum coding unit.

In operation 1820, the video data of the maximum coding unit is encodedbased on deeper coding units of hierarchical structures according to atleast one split region of the maximum coding unit, and a coding depth atwhich an encoding result is to be output is determined. Inter predictionmay selectively use partitions obtained by splitting a coding unitaccording to arbitrary ratios. Whether to perform inter prediction usingthe partitions obtained by splitting the coding unit according toarbitrary ratios may be set according to data units such as a framesequence, a frame, a slice, a coding unit, etc.

In operation 1830, a bitstream including the encoded video datacorresponding to coding depths for split regions according to maximumcoding units and encoding information regarding the coding depth andencoding modes is output. Information indicating whether interprediction is performed by using the partitions obtained by splittingthe coding unit according to arbitrary ratios may be encoded andinserted into a bitstream and then the bistream may be output.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating a video decoding method with respectto inter prediction using partitions split according to arbitraryratios, according to another exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 21, in operation 1910, a bitstream regarding encodedvideo data is received and symbols of the bitstream are parsed.

In operation 1920, the encoded video data according to maximum codingunits, and encoding information regarding coding depths and encodingmodes according to maximum coding units are extracted from thebitstream. Information indicating whether inter prediction is performedusing partitions obtained by splitting a coding unit according toarbitrary ratios may be extracted from the bitstream. The informationindicating whether inter prediction is performed using the partitionsobtained by splitting the coding unit according to arbitrary ratios maybe extracted from a sequence parameter set, a slice header, codinginformation for coding units, etc.

In operation 1930, decoding including motion compensation using thepartitions obtained by splitting the coding unit according to arbitraryratios may be performed for a coding unit of at least one coding depthaccording to maximum coding units based on the information regarding thecoding depths and encoding modes according to the maximum coding units.Whether to perform decoding including motion compensation using thepartitions obtained by splitting the coding unit according to arbitraryratios may be selectively performed according to the informationindicating whether inter prediction is performed using partitionsobtained by splitting the coding unit according to arbitrary ratiosextracted from the bitstream.

If inter prediction using the partitions split according to arbitraryratios is performed like the video encoding method and the videodecoding method of the present embodiments, the inter prediction isperformed by using the partitions that are split to one side at acurrent depth without having to further split a current deeper codingunit into lower depths.

Furthermore, whether the partitions of the coding unit include thepartitions split according to arbitrary ratios or partitions havingarbitrary shapes as well as the partitions obtained by splitting thewidth or height of the coding unit according to the ratio of 1:1 may beselected, and thus the conventional encoding/decoding system that doesnot support partitions split according to arbitrary ratios can use thevideo encoding method and the video decoding method of the presentembodiments. Therefore, more efficient and precise prediction encodingmay be selectively performed according to the video encoding anddecoding methods of the present embodiments.

The exemplary embodiments can be written as computer programs and can beimplemented in general-use digital computers that execute the programsusing a computer readable recording medium. Examples of the computerreadable recording medium include magnetic storage media (e.g., ROM,floppy disks, hard disks, etc.) and optical recording media (e.g.,CD-ROMs, or DVDs). Exemplary embodiments can also be implemented ascomputer processors and hardware devices.

While this invention has been particularly shown and described withreference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it will be understood bythose of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form anddetails may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention as defined by the appended claims. The exemplaryembodiments should be considered in a descriptive sense only and not forpurposes of limitation. Therefore, the scope of the invention is definednot by the detailed description of the invention but by the appendedclaims, and all differences within the scope will be construed as beingincluded in the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for decoding a video, the apparatuscomprising: a receiver which receives and obtains a bitstream of anencoded image; a processor which determines coding units having ahierarchical structure being data units in which the encoded image isdecoded, and sub-units for predicting the coding units, by usinginformation that indicates division shapes of the coding units andinformation about prediction units of the coding units, obtained fromthe received bitstream, wherein the sub-units comprise partitionsobtained by splitting at least one of a height and a width of the codingunits according to at least one of a symmetric ratio and an asymmetricratio; and a decoder which reconstructs the image by performing decodingincluding motion compensation using the partitions for the coding units,using the encoding information parsed from received bitstream, whereinthe coding units having the hierarchical structure comprise coding unitsof coded depths split hierarchically according to the coded depths andindependently from neighboring coding units.
 2. The apparatus of claim1, wherein the processor determines a partition type and prediction modefor a current coding unit among the coding units of coded depths basedon encoding information about a coded depth and an encoding mode for thecoding units having the hierarchical structure; and determinessub-partitions obtained by splitting at least one of a height and awidth of the current coding unit according to the at least one of thesymmetric ratio and the asymmetric ratio if the determined partitiontype and prediction mode is a type of partition for inter predictionobtained by splitting the current coding unit according to the at leastone of the symmetric ratio and the asymmetric ratio.
 3. The apparatus ofclaim 1, wherein the decoder selectively determines whether to performmotion compensation using the partitions obtained by splitting thecoding units according to the at least one of the symmetric ratio andthe asymmetric ratio based on information indicating a partition typefor inter prediction and the partitions obtained by splitting the codingunits according to the at least one of the symmetric ratio and theasymmetric ratio extracted from the bitstream.
 4. The apparatus of claim1, wherein the partitions comprise a prediction unit having a size equalto a size of a current coding unit or partition, at least one of firstsub-partitions obtained by symmetrically splitting at least one of aheight and a width of the current coding unit, and second sub-partitionsobtained by asymmetrically splitting at least one of a height and awidth of the current coding unit.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinan image of the encoded image is encoded based on information about amaximum size of the coding units and a depth of the coding units intowhich the coding units are hierarchically split.